Blast-Resistant Windows at Pentagon Credited with Saving Lives
Following the September 11th, 2001
attack on The Pentagon, military leaders and Pentagon Renovation specialists
credited blast resistant windows incorporating laminated glass and the
steel structure that supported them with saving many lives. (The windows
had already been installed in part of the building known as 'Wedge 1',
as the first stage in a scheduled renovation).
Pentagon
Renovation Program Communications Specialist, Brett Eaton, confirmed:
'The new blast-resistant window system installed in Wedge 1 supported
the floors directly above the impact for approximately 30 minutes after
the attack, allowing hundreds of people to flee to safety.'
Global glass specialist Viracon of Owatonna supplied the laminated glass
for the project. Masonary Arts, Inc. (MAI) of Bessemer, Alabama designed,
manufactured and installed the specially made windows. Project Manager
of MAI, Christy Stanfield explained: 'We had already installed 383 blast
resistant, historically replicated windows in Wedge 1 of the Pentagon
before September 11th. The custom-designed, blast-resistant steel structure
in which the blast-resistant windows were installed was also manufactured
and installed by MAI. The remaining 1,372 blast resistant historically
replicated custom design windows had been placed in storage for future
installation into Wedges 2-5 during the phased renovation process.'
Notes Stanfield: 'The historic, blast-resistant window systems incorporating
laminated glass were designed utilizing the exact exterior profiles and
dimensions of the original 1940s windows to ensure the historic integrity
of the building.'
The window replacement program will now be continued throughout all five
wedges of the Pentagon's exterior rings. The US$ 1.5 billion renovation
program (called 'Phoenix') is part of a contract from the US-based Historical
Society (Pentagon Renovation Program). Helmuth, Obata + Kassabaum Inc.
is the façade consultant for the program.
Cleveland
Company Built Pentagon Windows that Saved Lives
Hours after the attack occurred on September 11, 2001, Ken Hayes, a vice-president
for Masonry Arts, Inc. received a call concerning the windows his company
had recently finishing installing in the Pentagon.
Hayes emailed his staff to share the good news he was given from the governmental
representatives. The windows that were built by the Cleveland based company
had helped to save the lives of countless individuals who had been inside
the Pentagon when the plane crashed into the building.
To create the reinforced steel windows a machine bends steel into a 'Z'
shape. One corner of the steel 'Z' is bolted to the window and the other
corner to the building.
The facade, or skin, of floors four and five, which were above the impact
hole, remained intact and in place for 30 minutes allowing many survivors
to be pulled from the rubble before the floor slabs adjacent to the impact
zone began to collapse. Pentagon renovation specialists credited the blast
resistant windows incorporated with laminated glass and the half-inch
thick steel structure that supported them with saving many lives.
The new windows took two years to build and were made to look exactly
like the original windows to ensure the historic integrity of the building.
The window replacement program, part of a $1.5 billion renovation program
called Phoenix, was started by the U.S.-based Historical Society. It will
continue throughout all five wedges of the Pentagon's exterior rings.
U.S. Department of Defense Communication Guidelines prevent describing
the technical make-up of the blast-resistant laminated glass window solution.
A Masonry Arts team had just left the Pentagon to buy supplies to put
the finishing touches on the windows when the plane crashed. The first
stage of the scheduled renovation had been completed mere days before
the attack and the 383 blast-resistant, historically replicated windows
in wedge 1 had already been installed.
According to Masonry Arts, Inc. project manager Christy Stanfield, the
remaining 1,372 blast resistant, historically replicated, custom design
windows had been placed in storage for future installation into Wedges
2-5 during the phased renovation process. Global glass specialist Viracon
of Owatonna supplied the laminated glass for the project and Masonry Arts
designed, manufactured and installed the specially made windows.
'The new blast-resistant window system installed in Wedge 1 supported
the floors directly above the impact for approximately 30 minutes after
the attack,' said Pentagon Renovation Program communications specialist
Brett Eaton, 'which allowed hundreds of people to flee to safety.'
The windows withstood the 250,000 pound plane carrying 60,000 pounds of
fuel impacting into the middle of the Pentagon.